WHAT THE REVIEWERS SAY
“Along with being outstandingly clever, Calamity Jane is gut-bustingly funny and has an extraordinarily generous heart. Crucially, it is blessed with a central performance as fine as any seen on our musical stages since, I don’t know, forever. - Deborah Jones, The Australian
“Director Richard Carroll's production is witty, immersive and polished to a rough diamond… It's not going out on a limb to say Calamity Jane will be among the most fun experiences you'll have in a theatre this year.” - Jason Blake, Sydney Morning Herald
“From the moment you step inside the theatre, you know you are in for a rollicking good time at this joyously entertaining production… Gay is sensational as Calamity. She just about blows the roof off the theatre… A blissfully funny production.” - Jo Litson, Sunday Telegraph
“Gay is astonishing in the title role… But on top of that nuanced and intelligent central performance is an irresistible sense of irreverent raucousness that drives the whole production… The results are often sidesplittingly funny… Almost certainly the funniest show the Hayes has ever produced.” - Ben Neutze, Daily Review
"Who'd have thought Calamity Jane would hold up so well in 2017?... Thanks to a stellar turn from Virginia Gay in the title role, a brilliant no-weak-links supporting cast and inspired, side-splitting direction from Richard Carroll, this tiny jewel of a production hits every note square between the eyes… Virginia Gay turns in a performance the like of which you too rarely see in musical theatre… Blessed with comic timing, imagination and an inventive wit, she bursts onto the tiny Hayes stage and fills the theatre with her big-hearted, larger-than-life characterisation… If this doesn’t win her a Helpmann nomination, I’ll eat my chaps!... This is the best small-scale musical I've seen in years." - Clive Paget, Limelight
"Sublime... Gay's portrayal is the stuff that award winning performances are made of... My face hurt from laughter, my soul was inspired by the strong female characters and my heart was enamoured by Gay and co." - Bronwyn Cook, Theatre People
“Virginia Gay is completely captivating… A thoroughly delightful production, Calamity Jane is the must-see musical or 2017” - Jade Kops, Broadway World
“You could love this production for all sorts of reasons and all would be equally valid. It’s joyous, it’s touching, it’s beautifully performed and brilliantly put together… it’s witty, funny and full of itself and entirely beguiling… This production, directed magnificently by Richard Carroll and choreographed by Cameron Mitchell, plays with the coyness and unconscious sexual frissons of the 1950s, while giving knowing nods to how it can be read and understood, or interpreted, in 2017 with a sexual fluidity and humour which are both credible and gracefully realised… Virginia Gay is the dynamic centre of the piece, and her Calam is as touching and real as she is preposterous and funny. It’s a glorious performance. However, the rest of the actors are right up there with her… Everything you may already have heard about this Calamity Jane is true. It’s one for the ages.” – Diana Simmonds, Stage Noise
“An incredibly talented cast delivering an outrageously hilarious production. It’s irresistible… with leading lady Virginia Gay, who is a true national theatre treasure, at the forefront, director Richard Carroll has created a thriving and delightful production that never disappoints.” – Bec Caton, Aussie Theatre
“A quick-fire, self-aware, fourth-wall-breaking beast; a madcap staging that veers from droll to camp to slapstick and back again. And it’s the most you’ll laugh during any musical currently playing in Australia (including The Book of Mormon)… If you love musicals, don’t miss this loving send-up of the form, packed with its funniest actors. If you hate musicals, this is the one to see – it knows exactly why you hate them, and is likely to win you over to the cause.” – Cassie Tongue, Aussie Theatre